How 60 Minutes took Australia by storm in the 80s and made household names of its hosts


Australians got their first taste of a homegrown 60 Minutes on February 11, 1979, and most viewers had never seen anything quite like it before.

It was Four Corners on steroids – with advertisements – and the Nine Network’s venture into bigtime international current affairs gave local audiences a fresh view of the world.

The program was not an instant ratings winner but once it became established on the television landscape was almost compulsory viewing at 7.30 on Sunday nights. 

Throughout the 1980s reporters were flown around the globe on a seemingly unlimited budget to cover wars, interview presidents and prime ministers, and profile the planet’s biggest entertainers. 

In the process, the correspondents – at first George Negus, Ian Leslie and Ray Martin, then Jana Wendt – became rock stars of Australian journalism.

Australians got their first taste of a homegrown 60 Minutes on February 11, 1979, and most viewers had never seen anything quite like it before. Ray Martin (left), Ian Leslie (centre) and George Negus (right) were the three original reporters when the program was launched

Australians got their first taste of a homegrown 60 Minutes on February 11, 1979, and most viewers had never seen anything quite like it before. Ray Martin (left), Ian Leslie (centre) and George Negus (right) were the three original reporters when the program was launched

60 Minutes was not an instant ratings winner but once it became established on the television landscape was almost compulsory viewing at 7.30 on Sunday nights. Jana Wendt joined the program in 1982 and soon became one of its biggest stars

60 Minutes was not an instant ratings winner but once it became established on the television landscape was almost compulsory viewing at 7.30 on Sunday nights. Jana Wendt joined the program in 1982 and soon became one of its biggest stars

Reporters left and more were added: Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, but the original blokey line-up, with Wendt later adding some glamour, is the one most fondly recalled.

That Negus has now been diagnosed with dementia and is living in an aged care facility in Sydney has been met with an outpouring of sadness and support from his former colleagues.

Looking back on Negus in his prime is also a reminder of how good 60 Minutes was in its heyday – and that those glory days are long gone. 

Martin is now 77, Leslie is 79 and Negus turns 80 next month. Wendt is 65 and it is startling to recognise she was thrust into the original 60 Minutes boys’ club when she was just 24. 

Television news legend Peter Meakin was there at the beginning of 60 Minutes as a field producer and went on to run the program before becoming Nine’s head of news and current affairs.

Reporters left and more were added: Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, but the original blokey line-up, with Wendt later adding some glamour, is the one most fondly recalled. Left to right are Wendt, Leslie, McMullen and Negus on a TV Week cover

Reporters left and more were added: Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, but the original blokey line-up, with Wendt later adding some glamour, is the one most fondly recalled. Left to right are Wendt, Leslie, McMullen and Negus on a TV Week cover

‘It was unique,’ Meakin told Daily Mail Australia. ‘Not as if it was the first national affairs program because it wasn’t.

‘Four Corners came ahead of it but I think the secret was in personalised storytelling, rather than just an anonymous series of facts.

‘There were three or four reporters who were there every Sunday telling the story, and people could identify with the presenters, three or four Australians travelling the world.’

The local version of 60 Minutes was the creation of American-born journalist Gerald Stone, usually referred to as the program’s godfather. 

Stone began his television career In 1967 as a reporter on the ABC’s This Day Tonight before being hired in 1974 for a new Nine program, Federal File. 

In 1978 he was asked by Nine boss Kerry Packer to launch 60 Minutes, based on the format of the CBS current affairs show that had premiered a decade earlier.

Negus became a household name while working on the program as he criss-crossed the globe, often reporting from war zones. There was a sense he could be killed on camera at any time. He is pictured on assignment in Algeria

Negus became a household name while working on the program as he criss-crossed the globe, often reporting from war zones. There was a sense he could be killed on camera at any time. He is pictured on assignment in Algeria

Ian Leslie believed 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone played his 'ace card' when he brought Jana Wendt, Ten's Melbourne newsreader, to the program. 'In doing so he created an icon,' Leslie said. Wendt is pictured on assignment

Ian Leslie believed 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone played his ‘ace card’ when he brought Jana Wendt, Ten’s Melbourne newsreader, to the program. ‘In doing so he created an icon,’ Leslie said. Wendt is pictured on assignment

Packer’s instructions were clear: ‘I don’t give a f*** what it takes. Just do it and get it right.’ 

Meakin, who has worked at all three commercial networks and is now at Ten, said 60 Minutes was not necessarily what Packer had wanted. 

‘I think Kerry saw it as something far more serious than it turned out to be,’ he said. 

‘So when George Negus rocked up doing an interview with Boy George there would have been rumblings from [Packer’s office in] Park Street.

‘I’m not saying it was a stupid program but he saw it as being more cerebral and I think involving far more politics than it did.

‘But as producers we took the view that the last thing people wanted on Sunday night was a heavy does of interviews with politicians. I mean, they don’t want it now and I’m sure they didn’t want it then.’ 

Negus, Martin and Leslie were not well known to the public when 60 Minutes made its debut, as Leslie acknowledged at a memorial service for Stone following his death in November 2020. 

Getting the call to work on the program was ‘like winning the lottery’, Leslie said.

Negus, Martin and Leslie were not well known to the public when 60 Minutes made its debut, but soon became rock stars of journalism. Martin, pictured reporting for the program, had worked at This Day Tonight on the ABC and Four Corners

Negus, Martin and Leslie were not well known to the public when 60 Minutes made its debut, but soon became rock stars of journalism. Martin, pictured reporting for the program, had worked at This Day Tonight on the ABC and Four Corners

Stone had a simple, successful philosophy guiding how he wanted his journalists to relate to their audience.

‘Instead of the reporters strutting around with big microphones spouting meaningless phrases – “only time will tell” – they would speak to their viewing audience like a guest at a lively dinner party,’ he once explained. 

His attitude to storytelling was just as straightforward and effective.

‘The key to the success of 60 Minutes was to avoid generalised issues and focus on a single person or small group struggling with a particular problem, a situation any TV viewer could easily identify with,’ Stone said.

‘Think of it this way: very few people really give a damn about flood control but almost everyone can relate to the story of Noah.’

Early reviews of the show were harsh but Stone’s vision soon shook up a parochial Australia which had been deprived of well-produced, compellingly-told international stories.

George Negus (centre), Ray Martin (left) and Ian Leslie (right) were chosen by executive producer Gerald Stone to front 60 Minutes when Kerry Packer imported the format from the United States. They are pictured at a Nine Network 50th anniversary celebration in 2006

George Negus (centre), Ray Martin (left) and Ian Leslie (right) were chosen by executive producer Gerald Stone to front 60 Minutes when Kerry Packer imported the format from the United States. They are pictured at a Nine Network 50th anniversary celebration in 2006

Australian TV legend and 60 Minutes trailblazer Gerald Stone died on November 6, 2020, aged 87. Stone was the inaugural executive producer of the Channel Nine flagship current affairs program and later served as editor of The Bulletin (pictured)

Australian TV legend and 60 Minutes trailblazer Gerald Stone died on November 6, 2020, aged 87. Stone was the inaugural executive producer of the Channel Nine flagship current affairs program and later served as editor of The Bulletin (pictured)

Meakin: ‘It didn’t exactly have an auspicious start, it was in trouble for about the first few months and then it took off.’

‘I mean, it really took off. Like being the number one program for the week, for week after week.’ 

Leslie called Stone a ‘prime-time warrior’ who changed how Australian current affairs was presented and viewers consumed news. 

‘He brought the world into our lounge rooms,’ he said at Stone’s memorial service.

Negus put it this way in a video tribute played at that service: ‘Until 60 Minutes most of this country’s international coverage came almost exclusively from the US and UK.’

At the same gathering Martin called Stone ‘the Wayne Bennett of television EPs’, referring to the master rugby league coach, and 60 Minutes ‘a current affairs blockbuster that would change the rules.’ 

Gerald Stone (front) had been a lieutenant in the United States army and as a journalist covered the Vietnam War. He is pictured with (left to right)  George Negus, Ian Leslie, Jeff McMullen and Jana Wendt

Gerald Stone (front) had been a lieutenant in the United States army and as a journalist covered the Vietnam War. He is pictured with (left to right)  George Negus, Ian Leslie, Jeff McMullen and Jana Wendt

Such was the impact of 60 Minutes it is easy to forget that Negus, Leslie and Martin were far from household names before they joined the show.

Leslie had been a reporter for Nine’s A Current Affair after a stint at the Ten Network, and Negus had worked on the ABC’s This Day Tonight, as had Martin, who also appeared on the national broadcaster’s Four Corners.

Stone once said of his creation that 60 Minutes made its mark by bringing big foreign stories to Australia, which meant sending his instantly recognisable reporters around the world. 

‘People might not care what happened in Nicaragua, but they might care about what George Negus did in Nicaragua,’ Stone said.

Those reporters often appeared to be in genuine danger and there was a sense on some assignments that at any moment the one in the thick of it could be killed.

The Negus presentation style became so familiar to television audiences that Paul Hogan sent him up with a George Fungus character on his eponymous show. He is pictured on assignment

The Negus presentation style became so familiar to television audiences that Paul Hogan sent him up with a George Fungus character on his eponymous show. He is pictured on assignment

At its peak in the 1980s, a third or more of the national television audience tuned in every Sunday night to this spectacle. 

Meakin said the ratings were extraordinary – ‘I think it got up around the two million mark sometimes.’

‘In its heyday it was huge. It was an absolute powerhouse. 

‘It had a certain magic carpet ride element to it but of course those were the early innocent days of 1979 when it started and the world’s moved on a little bit now.’ 

All the early presenters were versatile and courageous journalists who projected distinctly individual personas on the screen. 

Negus was the swashbuckling one of the original trio with his thick moustache, twinkly-eyed delivery, and chest hair exposed by undone shirt buttons. 

The refined Leslie seemed more measured, but no less adventurous, while Martin was the smooth operator beloved by grandmothers. 

Wendt’s forensic interviewing technique and cool/steely on-camera demeanour led to Negus dubbing her the ‘perfumed steamroller’. 

Peter Meakin (pictured) was the long-serving news and current affairs director at Channel Nine and an important figure in the history of 60 Minutes. He is pictured at Gerald Stone's memorial service with Jennifer Byrne, who reported for the program from 1986 to 1993

Peter Meakin (pictured) was the long-serving news and current affairs director at Channel Nine and an important figure in the history of 60 Minutes. He is pictured at Gerald Stone’s memorial service with Jennifer Byrne, who reported for the program from 1986 to 1993

The Negus presentation style became so familiar to television viewers that Paul Hogan sent him up with a George Fungus character on his eponymous show.

‘We have a lot to thank George for in a sense,’ Leslie told Daily Mail Australia.

‘The three of us started that program along with Gerald but I always think it was George’s wit and outgoing character that credited 60 Minutes with its early success because he certainly got people’s attention.

‘And then we caught up with George.

‘He was a trailblazer. He wasn’t afraid to lead with his chin and that was very important when you’re struggling to make a mark.

‘It was new in the market place. You needed an ice breaker and George was that ice breaker.’

Leslie believed Stone played his ‘ace card’ when he brought Wendt, Ten’s Melbourne newsreader, to the program.

‘In doing so he created an icon,’ Leslie said at Stone’s memorial service.

Gerald Stone is pictured with Jana Wendt at the 60 Minutes offices at Willoughby in the early 1980s when she joined original reporters Ian Leslie, George Negus and Ray Martin

Gerald Stone is pictured with Jana Wendt at the 60 Minutes offices at Willoughby in the early 1980s when she joined original reporters Ian Leslie, George Negus and Ray Martin

Jana Wendt spoke at a memorial service for founding 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone in November 2020. She recalled a man with a mellifluous American accent and a 'thousand-watt smile' who also had a fearsome temper

Jana Wendt spoke at a memorial service for founding 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone in November 2020. She recalled a man with a mellifluous American accent and a ‘thousand-watt smile’ who also had a fearsome temper

Along with Negus and Martin he had initially been sceptical about Wendt’s hiring, asking Stone ‘Why are you putting on this beginner?’

‘We were pretty puffed up and boy did she show us she was wrong,’ Leslie said.

Revealing her sadness at Negus’s dementia diagnosis this week Wendt confirmed she was not immediately welcomed at 60 Minutes by him, or the other reporters. 

‘There was some quite well-documented initial combat between us at the time as Negus tried to sort out what this interloper was doing on the show,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘There was a bit of combat but we sure worked things out and it ended up in many occasions for laughter and good feelings so that’s the way it’s remained.’

Life for a 60 Minutes reporter meant weeks on the road, travelling the world on business class flights and when possible staying in five-star hotels. 

It also involved long periods away from family and working 20-hour days under constant pressure to produce ground-breaking stories for the show. 

George Negus paid tribute to original 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone in a video (pictured) shot at his home on the NSW north coast which was played at a memorial service when the legendary newsman died

George Negus paid tribute to original 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone in a video (pictured) shot at his home on the NSW north coast which was played at a memorial service when the legendary newsman died

Nicholas Lee was a cameraman on 60 Minutes for more than 30 years and said finding the big stories came with a huge expense account.

‘I wouldn’t say we had an open cheque book but everything in the 1980s was big,’ he told Daily Mail Australia when his memoir All This in 60 Minutes was published five years ago. 

‘The budget was fantastic because what we were doing was all completely new. Nothing had been done in Australia like this before.

‘Back then there was no Foxtel, no National Geographic Channel, or Discovery Channel. In Fact there wasn’t SBS, it hadn’t even started on television. The world was our blank canvas and we just went.’ 

60 Minutes presenters past and present are pictured celebrating the program's first decade in 1989. Left to right are George Negus, Jana Wendt, Richard Carleton, Ian Leslie, Ray Martin, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro and Jeff McMullen

60 Minutes presenters past and present are pictured celebrating the program’s first decade in 1989. Left to right are George Negus, Jana Wendt, Richard Carleton, Ian Leslie, Ray Martin, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro and Jeff McMullen

Meakin: ‘It was an expensive show to produce and it was graciously bankrolled by Kerry Packer who took a huge proprietorial interest in it, even though he didn’t approve of some of the stories.’ 

Stone said Packer did not ask what stories the program would be covering but he was obliged to inform the billionaire if an episode might a attract a major law suit.

Packer also phoned Stone at home after every the program aired to praise or to  criticise and he was regularly annoyed by Negus and his strong views.

Negus, who left 60 Minutes in 1986, went on to host Nine’s Today, the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, SBS’s Dateline, George Negus Tonight (ABC) and The Project (Ten). 

Negus landed exclusive interviews with major entertainment figures and world leaders, including a famously confrontational encounter with then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. He is pictured in 1991 with then Australian prime minister Bob Hawke

Negus landed exclusive interviews with major entertainment figures and world leaders, including a famously confrontational encounter with then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. He is pictured in 1991 with then Australian prime minister Bob Hawke

Martin stepped away from the ticking stopwatch in 1984 to take on Midday with Ray Martin on Nine the following year. He later hosted A Current Affair.

Wendt’s time was up in 1986 after four years at the program and hosted A Current Affair, Dateline, Witness (Seven) and Nine’s Sunday.  

Leslie left 60 Minutes in 1989 and anchored Ten’s news before forming his own production company specialising in corporate communications. 

‘Of all the journalistic vehicles that I’ve worked with during my life over the years in current affairs 60 Minutes was by far the closest bond that I’ve formed with fellow reporters,’ he told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘In my vast experience in journalism reporters are a pretty selfish breed, we keep our cards close to our chest, we guard our information. 

‘That wasn’t the situation on 60 Minutes, we freely exchanged our experiences, wished each other well, we always took a fair share of risks. It was a wonderful work environment.’

60 Minutes presenters are pictured at the 2018 Logie Awards at The Star Casino on the Gold Coast. Left to right are Liam Bartlett, Liz Hayes, George Negus, Charles Wooley and Ray Martin

60 Minutes presenters are pictured at the 2018 Logie Awards at The Star Casino on the Gold Coast. Left to right are Liam Bartlett, Liz Hayes, George Negus, Charles Wooley and Ray Martin

Nine’s Studio 22 at Willoughby where early episodes of the show were recorded and Stone’s memorial was held has been bulldozed, along with the adjacent 60 Minutes cottages where the program was produced. 

Meakin said 60 Minutes made its reputation in the 1980s by breaking stories and landing major interviews, ‘and the format hasn’t changed that much’. 

‘It’s still a mixture of investigations and personality profiles and so forth,’ he said. 

‘I think the show these days is a lot more reliant on good investigative journalism than it was then, maybe. 

‘Audiences in those days were about four times larger than they are now, simply because there were no streaming services, there was no internet to speak of, it was just free to air television.

‘What was magic then is everyday now.’ 
      

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